


On Again, Off Again, Never Again

by Kestrel337



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Multi, Open Marriage (discussion of), Other, Pro-Sally, polyamory (discussion of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-08
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-12-07 20:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/752726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kestrel337/pseuds/Kestrel337
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anderson has a proposition for Sally. Sally has an answer for Anderson.</p><p>Love Bingo Prompt Fill</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Again, Off Again, Never Again

**Author's Note:**

> A follow up to [Truth Will Out](http://archiveofourown.org/works/673536)

The sounds and smells of the coffee shop washed over Sally as she scanned the room for Anderson. Really, she ought to have suggested someplace else. Some neutral space that wasn’t heavy with memories. She spotted him at their formerly regular table, and bypassed the counter to take the seat opposite him. No way was this going to last long enough to justify a purchase, and she didn’t think props would make it less uncomfortable.

“Sal, thanks for coming.” Anderson smiled at her, leaned forward over the tiny table. “I really wanted to talk to you.”

Sally ignored the proffered hand. Instead she sat back, crossed her arms, and looked impatiently at the man across from her. Her on-again, off-again...what, exactly? Not boyfriend, not partner. Lover, she supposed, though she’d come to recognize that such tender emotion had never been part of it. Whatever. Off-again seemed to cover it, as did never-again. Time to get this over with. “So, talk. My shift starts in half an hour.”

Sean dropped his hand and picked up his coffee as if that’s what he’d intended all along. “I’ve had a talk with Kim.” He paused, looked up from his cup expectantly, waiting for her to react. She aimed an arch look, waved the universal ‘hurry up’ hand. “She’s met someone else. Someone she’s quite taken with.”

Oh for mercy’s sake. Had Kimberly Anderson finally reached the conclusion that she’d be well quit of him? Was this an incredibly ill-timed fulfillment of a wish she’d once held dear? Sally wrapped both hands around her mug, sipped. “I see.” It was all she could manage to say.

“Apparently she’s been seeing him for a while. Since just before Christmas, I guess. She met him on one of her trips. They both work in marketing. The usual sort of thing.”

The irony wasn’t lost on her, though she doubted he saw it. “Yeah. I guess that happens.”

“So, anyway, she said she’s known for a while that I’ve been, you know. About us. And she figures that it’d be better if we were up front about it. Since we’ve both been, well, you know.” 

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘unfaithful’.”

“But that’s what we talked about; it’s not like that, not now. We’ve agreed to have an open marriage. So it’s not being unfaithful. See?” 

She was very much afraid that she did see. She almost wished she’d been right in her first apprehension of a proposition fueled by a divorce, not this. “What are you saying, Sean?”

“I’m saying, I think we should give it another go. I’ve missed you.” How had she ever found that smarmy smile irresistible?

“God, Sean. For the last time: no. I don’t think we should give it another go. I thought I made that clear.”

“Well, yeah, but that...that was when it was _cheating_. You said you didn’t want to lie and sneak around anymore, and I get that, Sal, I really do. But don’t you see? We wouldn’t be. It’s all open and above board now. Kim’s okay with us. It was her idea. It’s a good arrangement, lots of people do it. I mean, look at Lestrade.”

“You. I. What?” Sally shook her head. “You can’t actually believe that what you are proposing has anything at all in common with his situation?”

He sneered, frustration lacing his words. “Don’t be so precious; what I want isn’t any more unconventional than what they’re doing.”

“You really think that.” She shouldn’t have been surprised. “Look, Sean, first of all. What you’re saying? That’s just about sex. What Lestrade has? It’s not ‘friends with benefits’, it isn’t ‘regularly scheduled threesomes’. It isn’t based on sex. It’s about love, and caring, and bringing out the best in each other by being together. Because they do, you know. They absolutely do. Next, and even more important, is that there was a lot of talk and negotiation and discussion while they were finding their way. There still is. It’s hard work and it takes an enormous amount of trust and respect and honesty. I don’t think those are factors for you or your wife. If either of you cared, if you’d been interested in communication and honesty and respect, you’d have made this choice _before_ you took up with someone else in secret. If you were willing to accept hard work you’d have talked to a counselor or maybe a lawyer. Yeah, Lestrade’s partnership isn’t conventional. But it’s a hell of a lot healthier than retroactively deciding that sleeping around was acceptable, just because you don’t want the mess and work of a divorce.”

Sean stared. “What, now you’re an expert in healthy relationships? What makes you think you know anything about anything?”

She shook her head. “The information is out there if you can be bothered to look for it. I found websites, books. I swallowed my pride and talked to Lestrade. After all that, I did a lot of thinking. I’m not proud of how I let people treat them when it all came out. The whispers and the crap that I pretended not to notice. That was jealousy, because what they have is uncommon, but it’s also wonderful. And our...I can’t even call it a relationship. It was an affair. It was deceitful, and it was wrong. It was completely ordinary, and not amazing or wonderful at all. For awhile I figured it was okay, because everyone’s doing it. I believed it was what I wanted. But I don’t anymore, not even with the wink and nod from your wife. I don’t want a relationship that was founded in lies. I want something more, even if it’s just an honest life on my own.”

Sally stood, shrugged into her coat. “I hope what you’ve chosen works out for you. I do. But whether it does or not, I won’t be part of it. Good-bye, Sean. Good luck.” So saying, she walked out to the street. Her heart lifted a tiny bit at the thought that, maybe, something wonderful would find her. Stranger things had happened.

**Author's Note:**

> For my "Open Relationship" square in Love-Bingo. No Beta, no Brit-picker. Not my characters, no disrespect is intended or money made.


End file.
